Record-breaking Sinner defends Australian Open in style

Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Australian Open title on Sunday night in Melbourne, beating Alexander Zverev in straight sets to claim his third Grand Slam.

The world No.1 prevailed in emphatic fashion, dismissing the two-seed 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 without facing a single break point across the two-hour, 42-minute final in Rod Laver Arena.

In doing so, the Italian joins elite company, becoming just the third man to win a major final and not give his opponent a look at break point.

Sinner also becomes the first man in history to win 10 consecutive matches in straight sets against opponents in the world’s top 10.

Besides his domination on serve – 60% of first serves made and 84% of first-serve points won – Sinner comprehensively outplayed Zverev from the back of the court.

He consistently got the better of long rallies, biding his time and not over-extending himself as the German made errors or offered passive balls.

The result was a winner count of 32 to 25 in Sinner’s favour alongside an unforced error count of 27 to 45.

“It was an amazing performance from my side,” Sinner said after the match.

“I felt like I was in the beginning of the match serving really well and trying to get into the zone very fast.

“It was a very high-quality from my side.

“Second set, got a bit lucky in the tiebreak, as we saw.

“All things considered, amazing run again here in Australia. I’m extremely happy.”

Zverev, who has now played in and lost three tennis Grand Slam finals, was honest in his analysis of the match.

“In general, Jannik is better than me at the moment. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“I think I served better than Jannik, everything else he does better.

“Today he completely outplayed me.

“From the back of the court, completely outplayed me.

“As I said, I’m serving better than him, but that’s it.

“He does everything else better than me.

“He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me.

“At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots, like massive factors, and he does four or five of them better than me.

“That’s the reason why he won. He deserved to win today.

“He’s the best player on hard courts right now. It’s as simple as that.”

Sinner’s Australian Open title came as no surprise to tennis bookmakers, who had the 23-year-old as the favourite to lift the trophy pre-tournament.

Over the two weeks of play in Melbourne, Sinner’s odds became shorter and shorter, shifting from $2.40 pre-tournament to $1.33 at BetOnline heading into the final on Sunday.

Zverev had been on the fourth line of betting to win the Australian Open across most tennis betting apps coming into the year’s first major, returning $11.

By the time he stepped on court for the final, his odds had shortened to $3.40, with most still considering him a heavy underdog to upset the top seed.

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